Chapter 68: Ch107. Hunter and prey - 3
"D-Dragon... F-e-ar...?" Kurt managed to mumble.
Rhegal laughed and laughed, stepping towards Kurt slowly.
"Yes, Dragon Fear, a skill that none of you, filthy humans will ever get to study, because there’s no such thing as dragons among the beasts you find in your world’s Nests. So you will die here, without even knowing what killed you!"
Rhegal raised his hands, his claws extending like small swords, and he prepared to strike.
Beep!
Everything around Kurt froze in time and place, and he felt his body easing up.
"Wha-"
[CONVERSION, FIRST STEP: COMPLETE]
[RESETTING STATS CONFIGURATION]
[3...]
[2...]
[1...]
[STATS CONFIGURATION RESET: COMPLETE]
"What’s this?" Kurt asked himself, baffled and confused.
[SYNCHRONIZING ELEMENT – MEMORY FRAGMENT – WITH KURT BLAKE]
[3...]
[2...]
[1...]
[ELEMENT SYNCHRONIZATION: COMPLETE]
[ANALYZING UNUSED ITEMS]
[3...]
[2...]
[1...]
[UNUSED ITEMS ANALYSIS: COMPLETE]
[UNUSED ITEMS LIST:]
[WULFIR’S SHADOW]
[WULFIR’S STEPS]
[GROTH’S ESSENCE]
[GROTH’S HOWL]
[GROTH’S HEART]
[DO YOU WISH TO PROCEED TO THE ITEMS USAGE?]
Kurt was too baffled to answer for a moment, just looking at the sequence of system windows opening in front of him.
’Wait! It’s gotta be something interesting, and the system seems to really be helping me this time, so...’ "Yes!"
[PROCEEDING]
[MERGING – WULFIR’S SHADOW – AND – WULFIR’S STEPS]
[- RIGHT HAND’S QUIETNESS – HAS BEEN SUCCESSFULLY CREATED]
[MERGING – GROTH’S ESSENCE - - GROTH’S HOWL – AND - GROTH’S HEART]
[A NEW LIFE FORM WANTS TO EMERGE]
[DO YOU WISH TO PROCEED?]
"Yes!"
And inside that tiny moment in time and space, Kurt watched as the three of Groth’s items he had been rewarded with in the Nest, became three spheres of black light, floating in front of him.
They swirled around each other until they became one, releasing a blinding explosion of black light.
When Kurt opened his eyes, there was a cute Direwolf cub in front of him.
It scratched its ear and looked up, its golden eyes piercing Kurt with a sense of familiarity.
Kurt also felt his body much lighter than the usual, and when he looked at his body, he was wearing an armor.
The only thing was that the armor felt like it was invisible, so light it was.
It resembled leather, but so finely crafted, that it looked like nothing made on Earth.
Kurt looked back to the Direwolf cub, and it howled at him.
"Groth... I didn’t forget my promise."
[YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY NAMED YOUR FAMILIAR]
[A NEW TITLE IS BEING GENERATED]
[YOU HAVE ACQUIRED THE TITLE – KING’S MASTER -]
[ANALYZING ENEMY]
[ACTIVATING TITLE EFFECT]
[KING’S RESPECT IS ACTIVE]
[ALL EFFECTS SUCH AS FEAR HAVE BEEN NULLIFIED DUE TO THE TITLE’S AUTHORITY]
[SYSTEM CONSCIOUSNESS RETURNING TO STANDBY]
[PROCEEDING TO CONVERSION, SECOND STEP]
Kurt didn’t need to open his [STAT WINDOW] to notice the change.
He felt lighter, stronger, faster, and somehow, more silent.
Even when he moved his arm to deflect Rhegal’s attack, neither his new armor, nor his movements by itself made any sound.
And it wasn’t just because of the armor or the title.
Kurt knew that there was something very different with his stats, and it had something to do with what the system called [SYNCHRONIZING].
But Kurt didn’t need to ask himself what that was about, because just a moment later, his mind and heart were filled with the memories and emotions of the other Kurt.
But Kurt didn’t break under the weight of those memories.
He got too used to it for them to affect him anymore.
However, it wasn’t just his mind and his heart.
His body overflowed with the other Kurt’s unbalanced force and energy.
Even though it felt like just a fraction of it, Kurt felt almost invincible.
"Shall we go all out, Groth?" Kurt asked his new familiar.
Even though he wasn’t really sure of why, he just knew that he could use that Direwolf cub to help him win against Rhegal.
"AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Groth howled.
Time slowly began to recover its normal speed, and Rhegal’s claws were closing in on Kurt, but when they hit him, it was like hitting pure steel.
Kurt just blocked the attack like it was nothing.
"How about that?" Kurt smirked, and Groth growled.
He didn’t forget the fact that his title, [KING’S RESPECT] was in effect, so he looked at Rhegal, whose eyes were wide in pure disbelief, and said.
"I didn’t know you were a king yourself. Is that why Zaval was able to open a Nest here at the academy?"
Rhegal growled, taking several steps back.
"ROAR! I DON’T KNOW HOW YOU CAME ACROSS THIS INFORMATION, BUT YOU WILL DIE BEFORE YOU SHARE IT WITH ANYONE! HOW DID YOU CHANGE SO MUCH IN JUST THIS FEW SECONDS?"
Kurt chuckled.
"I got a little help from a friend." He patted Groth.
"H-how..." Rhegal stammered. "Y-you weren’t supposed..." He roared louder, instilling the sound with Dragon Fear.
Without any success.
Kurt just poked his ear and closed his eyes.
"Groth?"
"AWOOOOOOOOOOOO!" The familiar howled again.
It shone in black light, its shape seemingly changing, growing.
In seconds, the cub had grown to the full size of a human, even standing on its two rear legs.
Groth growled gutturally.
[THE TITLE – KING’S MASTER – IS IN EFFECT]
[KING’S MASTER]
[DESCRIPTION:]
[TITLE; ALLOWS THE PLAYER, KURT BLAKE, TO COMMUNE WITH THE FAMILIAR, AND SHARE POWER BETWEEN EACH OTHER]
[THE TITLE’S EFFECT LASTS FOR 02 MINUTES]
[COOLDOWN: 07 DAYS]
Kurt smirked alongside with his new familiar. Groth growled and smiled, too, but Rhegal had only shock and fear in his eyes.
"Let’s not kill him, okay?"
Groth huffed, already charging towards his new found enemy.
Kurt moved forward not long after.
Rhegal’s surprise and shock only allowed him to defend from the torrent of attacks coming from both the Diwerwolf and Kurt, and the Ishir commander felt like he was being driven to a corner.
However, he was doing well against two opponents, not having received any significant damage.
That was until Kurt found an opening.
He clapped his hands right when Groth was ready to kick Rhegal in the face.
Rhegal was ready to parry the attack, but when Kurt clapped his hands, Groth disappeared from his field of view, leaving only its afterimage behind.
And within Groth’s afterimage, Kurt appeared, delivering a powerful blow to the commander’s stomach.
He fell to one knee, coughing a mouthful of blood.
When he got up, he let out a deafening roar that lasted several seconds.
Rhegal’s roar was so powerful, that it also let out an enormous wave of energy that prevented both Kurt and Groth from striking.
The commander’s body began exuding something like vapor, and it began shrinking little by little.
Kurt and his familiar couldn’t were unable to move for a few seconds, and when they regained their movements, Rhegal looked very different from before.
He was shorter, his complexion was leaner, but somehow it felt way sturdier than before.
His scales and claws looked sharper, and his eyes...
They glowed in blood-red.
